This picture speaks for itself, “is the glass half full or half empty?”. This rhetorical question is used to indicate whether one has a pessimistic or a optimistic look upon a situation. So where exactly does South Africa’s health system stand?
If one’s mind is set to view their surroundings negatively, then there is substantial evidence to confirm your prejudice. According to the Sunday Tribune-IOL- the public sector accounts for only half of total expenditure on health care and is financially constrained in comparison to the private sector. The private sector is viewed as better managed and quality of care, with 70% of doctors and healthcare workers in this sector. Whereas the government accounts are aiding more than 80%of the population who can not afford private care. South Africa’s health system can not move forward without evaluating the gaps in human resources, training mor nurses and community health care professionals also encouraging more rural-based training of doctors. Failure to do this will result in the poor continuing to be at disadvantage.
Despite the dark clouds hanging over South Africa’s health system, and between all the tragedy and disappointments lies some success stories that brings hope to many of those whose lives depend on that silver lining, however slight.
REFERENCES:
- It is time to see a half full glass for health crisis. (2017). Retrieved May 01, 2019, from https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/opinion/it-is-time-to-see-a-half-full-glass-for-health-crisis-10951416
One thought on “Is the glass half full or half empty?”
Hi, Jamie! I think it’s an important topic you have chosen, and I like how you have pointed out that one perspective plays a role in the situation, and that there is some hope and success stories as well! If you have some practical examples, that would make the point even clearer, I believe. 🙂
I also like that you have brought in some of the numbers and statistics to compare the privat and the public system to show the big difference between them! That’s very interesting to read about in light of how different it is here in Norway.
To improve the text I think it would be nice if you brought in a bit more of your own reflections and perhaps “answered” the question about whether or not the cup is actually half-full or half-empty – and what such a perspective might mean for a patient (or a physiotherapist for that matter). 🙂
Best regards,
Mari